Efforts are underway to form a regional film commission in Northwest Arkansas.
Cities' representatives began meeting in July, and the commission should be incorporated by the end of October, said Sandy Martin, who co-founded the Eureka Springs Indie Film Fest in 2013.
"What we're trying to do now is get commitments from the cities in the region," she said.
So far, Bentonville, Eureka Springs and Fayetteville are participating. Rogers and Springdale have yet to commit, Martin said.
The commission will promote economic development by attracting, retaining and expanding the region's film, digital media and entertainment industry, according to a mission statement drafted at the group's first meeting, which was July 20.
The regional effort tentatively is being called the Northwest Arkansas Commission of Film & Entertainment. The proposed commission's region includes, but is not restricted to, Benton, Carroll and Washington counties.
Martin said she and Kalene Griffith began talking about a regional commission shortly after the first Bentonville Film Festival this spring. Griffith is president/chief executive officer of the Bentonville Convention and Visitors Bureau.
Griffith said she had considered a film commission for Bentonville last year, but it's better to work together as a region.
"I think we have to understand that most people who come into our cities, or to Northwest Arkansas, do not understand the boundaries," she said. "We should be working together to make these opportunities much more successful. Instead of trying to be in competition, let's work collaboratively."
Martin said the commission met for a second time Aug. 10. Its next meeting is scheduled for Sept. 10. All meetings, so far, have been at the Fayetteville Town Center.
Christopher Crane, director of the Arkansas Film Commission, attended the first two meetings.
"I've been working to help facilitate it and guide them through the process," Crane said. "That part of the world has been growing so much. It's perfect for film and entertainment."
Crane said the regional commission would work with the state commission and could be an example for other parts of the state to follow.
Crane said there currently are no regional film commissions in the state.
But a Northwest Arkansas Film Commission existed from 1981 until the mid-2000s. Dash Goff of Fayetteville said he was involved with Northwest Arkansas' first film commission. Goff said a 5 percent state tax rebate offered in the 1980s attracted several films to Northwest Arkansas, but then other states started offering better incentives to filmmakers.
"It just died out because there wasn't anything happening," Goff said. "We had a huge file of locations. People would come to town, and we'd drive them around for three or four days, show them hills and cliffs, whatever they needed."
Martin said things will be different this time because the area already has mature film festivals, and cities will have an investment in the commission. Also, the regional group will be working with the state commission, and they'll consider regional filming incentives, she said.
Joe Glass said Arkansas had 35 regional film commissions in 1985. Glass was the Arkansas film commissioner from 1979-85 and again from 1998 to 2005.
"There was even a Ponca Film Commission," said Glass, referring to a community in Newton County.
Arkansas has had a statewide film incentive since 1983. It was the first state to enact one. That initial incentive provided a rebate of 5 percent of film production costs in Arkansas as long as $500,000 was spent in the state within a six-month period or $1 million within a year.
The Arkansas law regarding the tax incentives was changed a few times over the years, in part to keep up with more aggressive rebates offered by other states, such as Louisiana, which provides a 30 percent tax credit for expenditures and an additional 10 percent on in-state labor.
Arkansas Code Annotated 15-4-2005 provides for a 20 percent rebate on production costs along with an additional 10 percent rebate in payroll costs for employees -- other than producers and directors -- who are full-time Arkansas residents. Certain requirements must be met for eligibility, and the production company must spend at least $200,000 within a six-month period on production of the film.
A similar statewide rebate is provided for postproduction work under Arkansas Code Annotated 15-4-2006. It has a lower threshold of $50,000 being spent within six months.
Last year, Eureka Springs became the first city in Arkansas to offer tax breaks to film production companies. The City Council passed an ordinance allowing companies to get a 2 percent sales-tax rebate on film production and postproduction expenses in the city, as long as they spend at least $250,000.
Kym Hughes, executive director of the Fayetteville Advertising and Promotion Commission, said she believes a regional film commission would be a "huge economic development driver."
"Film brings many visitors to our town to work and contribute to our economy by staying in our hotels and eating in our restaurants, much like meetings and conventions," Hughes said via email. "Afterwards, there's just an unlimited potential because movie fans begin to visit these locations so they can experience what they saw on the big screen, and suddenly a famous bench or a well-known garden become tourist attractions."
Hughes said she believes Fayetteville's Offshoot Film Festival would grow as a result of the regional film commission. The Fayetteville festival started in 2010.
Martin said the commission will probably be incorporated as a tax-exempt nonprofit organization.
Eureka Springs already has been the backdrop for several movies, including Pass the Ammo (1988), Chrystal (2004), Elizabethtown (2005), Mr. Christmas (2005) and War Eagle, Arkansas (2007). Part of The Blue and the Gray, a 1982 television miniseries, was filmed in Eureka Springs.
Metro on 08/23/2015